20 Strategies To Soothe & Stave Off Stress

April is National Stress Awareness Month, so today, I’m highlighting ways we can soothe and stave off stress in our lives. While stress is inevitable — it’s life, after all — it’s important we have tools at our disposal to cope with it effectively.

Stress can negatively affect how we feel about our bodies and ourselves. It can trigger emotional overeating and anxiety and sink our mood. In short, it can be really overwhelming. It also doesn’t help if the strategies we turn to are detrimental to our health and well-being.

Here’s a list of 20 strategies along with other resources that might help.

Find meditations that resonate with you. Here’s one example, and another.

Figure out what you can and can’t control. In fact, recently, I interviewed an author who believes we spend too much time and energy hyper-focusing on how each of us can cope with stress instead of looking at stress as a social issue, at the policy level.

P.S., I just wanted to let you know about the “The One Fund Boston,” which was created by the governor of Massachusetts and mayor of Boston to raise money for the families most affected by the bombings. If you’re interested in making a monetary donation, you can do so at OneFundBoston.org.

What helps you cope with stress? What are your favorite strategies?

Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 3 Mar 2014 Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.